Chat 10 Looks 3 discussion

What is on your night stand right now that you really want to share?

I'm loving "Foot Notes" by Ben Allmon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Incredibly poetically written, quintessentially Australian, fantastic true story of personal growth.

4321 by Paul Auster. It's a massive doorstep of a book but totally absorbing. I don't want to finish it.

"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman. A unique new voice in fiction, and a book which is sad and funny and quirky all at the same time and one of those books you can't stop reading once you start (ie the best kind).

Reading my first Val McDermid book- Distant Echo. So far so good I am enjoying it.

I am reading Pachinko. Am loving it so far. It is a page turner and is enlightening me on Japanese/Korean history and relations during the 20th century.

I've just finished "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett which was wonderful, and "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi which was good, but didn't live up to my (fairly high!) expectations.

I'm currently devouring Julia Baird's "Victoria the Queen". I'm not overly interested in the British monarchy, but she was a hugely important woman in history - and I was lured to it by Annabel Crabb's enthusiastic recommendation.
Baird's research is excellent and her writing and narrative style is totally engaging, making this enormous tome completely engrossing.

Tin Man which has great reviews on Goodreads. And the Subtle Art of Not Giving a F which is quite inspirational.

Kate Summerscale's The Wicked Boy. Wickedly good history writing with a fascinating shift in the life under examination.

Jenni wrote: "I've just finished "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett which was wonderful, and "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi which was good, but didn't live up to my (fairly high!) expectations."

Try reading 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande as a companion to Kalanithi. I found the books raised lots of thought-provoking questions about matters we tend to avoid and I've discussed them widely with many people with some surprisingly positive results.

Just finished Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas, in parts it was a difficult book to read but I am glad I finished it.

Now on to Lion by Saroo Brierley. Its my book club's current choice. While I am enjoying the story, I'm finding the language or how its actually written a little clunky.

At home we have a major bike race which has closed the surrounding streets. Worried that I would finish Lion today and not have anything to read, I picked up The Museum of Modern Love from the library yesterday.

Just picked up Still Life With Breadcrumbs by Anna Quindlen. A friend of mine lent it to me AGES ago so feel I should read and return. No idea what it is about or by whom, but that’s a good thing!

I'm about 30% into Dennis Lehane's Before We Fell. I love his work (he wrote Mystic River, some might remember the movie) and am enjoying it - when I get the chance. I'm breaking up research work with bursts of it.

Happy New Year!
I'm about 100 pages into Boy Swallows Universe and on Chapter 7 of The Silence of the Girls both excellent so far.
Also listening to on audio Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings narrated by the author. Also, excellent!